Two Acts of Vandalisation in Ticino Canton, Italy

Case information
Incident date
Country
Italy
Place
Fescoggia
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Public Christian Symbol
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Censorship or Removal of Public Christian Symbols
Place of Incident
  • Public Christian Symbol (outside place of worship)
Bias Indicators
  • Pattern or Frequency of Attacks
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
  • Time/Place/Location
Reported to Police
  • Unknown
Response of Local Authorities
  • Unknown
Image credit: Claudio Carrozzo on Unsplash

On the night of Wednesday the 12th of July, the Lourdes-Grotto in the Italian town of Fescoggia was vandalised, with the flowerpots overturned. Giorgio Bazurri, of the parish Fescoggia: "Popular faith is being attacked here, the cultural tradition of those who built these chapels." This is not the only case of vandalism in the area: the face of a statue of Mary the Greina region was also found smeared with black paint recently.

The Madonna figure is found near the Pian Geirett and the Skaletta-Hut, at around 2000 meters in height. The walls around the figure were also found scrawled on.

The Lourdes Grotto in Fescoggia has been vandalised before. In 2018, a 60-centimetre-high figure of Saint Bernadette was stolen from the grotto. We reported on that incident as well.

Sources